Andy
It’s that time! time to shine the TTC Collectors Spotlight on collector James Frazer! Over the past few years, we have been keeping a close eye on James collection and toy photography. A nice range of designer toys, from resin to vinyl we catch up with James to take you with us to showcase James collection and photography. First of all, thank you for having us interview you and taking time out to answer all our questions. Having a wide range of artist and independent brands. It was only right to get James on the TTC collectors spotlight to give you a glimpse of his collection.
TTC- Is there a specific style you collect?
James – I grew up spending lots of days wandering through the woods, going on family beach excursions, gazing at the wonders of space, so naturally, I’m a straight sucker when it comes to nature and space in the form of art. Also, I’m a tree-hugging, every animal is precious, metalhead which tends to keep my collection balanced as far as cute and creepy goes.
I have a soft spot for glow in the dark and UV reactive pieces as well, they let me enjoy my collection both in the light and in the night. I think my collection reflects that clearly haha.
TTC- How did you get into designer toys?
James- I’ve always had the collector’s bug in me. Growing up it was things like sports/superhero cards, McFarlane and Chaos Toy figures. I took a break for a long time than during Christmas of 2017, while shopping for Funko Pops for my sister, an ad came up in my feed from Kidrobot advertising the new Octodunny by Clutter, shit blew my mind! I had no idea such wonderful creations existed. After Christmas was taken care of, I jumped into researching what I had stumbled upon, fell into the rabbit hole and never looked back.
TTC- We see that you love nature and the great outdoors, you take some of your collection with you. Is it hard to decide which ones to take with you?
James -Thankfully I live in an area where the forest is plentiful and very close by. I don’t have to leave my property to find a nice little spot for a photo. When I do take some with me, it’s the ones that can’t break and aren’t custom painted. I’m not trying to mess up someone’s hard work for a toy selfie. Most of my collection hasn’t been any more than 50ft outside my house, I’m very protective haha.
TTC- We can see you have both resin and vinyl pieces which one do you prefer?
James- They both have their pros and cons but neither have enough cons to outweigh the pros, I’m not a material discriminator, it’s all good!
TTC- Out of your collection, which 3 has the most personal meaning to you?
James- One of my goals of building out my collection has become to only add things that I plan on keeping for good. I’ve finally come to the point where everything I have is just that, I love them all dearly because they all have a personal meaning. With that being said, my Dad got me good last Christmas when he got in touch with Kendra Thomas behind my back, which I never even considered it being something he would have known to do, and arranged a special version of her Stitches piece in my favorite space style which I lovingly dubbed Sir Spaceface Von Twinkletoes haha. Upon opening this mysterious package and after the confusion of what was in my hand wore off, the tears then started to flow, it was totally unexpected and a moment I’ll always remember. So that’s probably my most emotional toy moment thus far haha.
TTC- Does it matter if a piece is limited or not?
James- It’s not something that’s a deal-breaker for me if the piece isn’t limited. What matters most is how much I like the piece. Let us be real though, most pieces in the community are fairly limited, I don’t think any artist out there is pumping out 1,000’s of pieces for each run but I could be wrong, I am very much still a beginner in the scene haha. I will say though, it gives one a nice warm feeling to have an OOAK or a piece from a super limited run, especially if everyone wants it haha.
TTC- We love your toy photography! What do you use to shoot?
James- Thank you!!!! I really appreciate that! I’m not using anything fancy by any means. I’ve got an Ipad mini 4 that I use in conjunction with a free version of photoshop express, seems to do the job well enough for me at least haha.
TTC- Where do you have the most collectables in your house?
James- My collection is contained in my bedroom. Its where I play the guitar, art it up, and all that fun stuff so It only makes sense for it to exist there plus it’s the first and last thing I see every day, can’t complain about that haha. Also, a bonus to that set up is that when I’m playing the guitar, It kind of feels like I have an audience that’s always super stoked to see me play haha.
TTC- How often do you wipe down your collection?
James- I’m not all OCD about it but if I see something that needs a little TLC then I’ll take care of it. I’ll do a major cleaning where I’ll take everything down, dust and reorganize, if need be, about once a month. I really need better displays, something that keeps the dust down, this whole idea of having to end up dusting hundreds of pieces a few years down the road sounds like some bullshit to me haha.
TTC- What do you look for in a designer toy?
James- I’m not sure there is anything specific that I seek out really, just whatever makes me goes “Oooooo!”. I love variation though I don’t want a collection that looks all the same. The first 6 months of collecting was an expensive lesson in that for me haha. I started going all-in with Kidrobot then sold all but a few to support my growing Coarse habit then sold most of those and decided to start going for the more independent folks. I find pieces more meaningful when I’m able to make a connection with the artist or at the very least get know enough about the person to know they are someone who generally means well in life. I’m not about supporting any artists, brands or companies that are only out for themselves and not returning the love to the community that supports them. Thankfully there isn’t much of that.
TTC- If you had to pick one Toy for the rest of your life what would it be and why? (I don’t ever wish that would ever happen to you)
Shit, I don’t wish this question on anyone! it’s a tough one haha. So, I’m going for the loop-holes, does a big block of super Sculpey count, if so, I’d pick that and keep making and destroying toys. Or maybe I’d just glue my collection together to make one big super toy, let’s go with that one, Super toy forever!
TTC- Could you give us a little tour around the house/collection?
The little tour is an understatement, as mentioned before, my collection is all in my room, but I’d be happy to give a closer look at the shelves that my treasures rest upon. I have them organized either by the artist or sculpt for the most part but as time goes by, I’m sure there will be adjustments, such is the way of the collector.
TTC-If you could have any superpowers what would they be and why?
James- I would want to have the power to give other people superpowers because I enjoy helping other people more than helping myself. Plus, if you have superpowers then inevitably some dick villain is going to start messing with you for no reason, I ain’t got time for all that haha.
TTC- What’re your top 5 favourite toys from 2018
This is another one of those questions where I might break the parameters a little haha. There were tons of pieces by Kendra Thomas (Her original piece Stitches, amazing customs and commissions) and Jeremey Tanavit aka Tanavit23 ( Badass original characters JEM and Pitohui) that I was really stoked to add to the family, those are the two biggest collections I have by individual artists, it’s like they have an insight into my soul haha.
I got some customs by Uncle Studio (Pitohui by Tanavit23) and NaptimeNoah (Coarse Omens) that are super badass and were also my first commissioned pieces. Both fellas are amazing to work with! One of the more fantastically life-changing discoveries for me was the Metal Sloth by Xpanded Universe, ever hear a song that’s so coincidental that you felt like they wrote it just for you? well that’s what happened with the Metal Sloth haha. I promptly built out that collection as much as I possibly could and will continue to do so haha. The one-piece I missed that I really wanted was the Dualle drop by Whalerabbit and its been nothing but an elusive little bastard ever since. I’ll get one day!…maybe…if the toy gods allow it haha.
TTC- What’s your guilty pleasure?
My guilty pleasure would be watching Funko Pop mystery box unboxings haha. I have no clue why and I don’t even collect them. I’ve got three and they were all gifts. I could throw a bunch of random reasons why I think I like them but at the end of the day, it brings a little joy to my day so I just leave it at that haha.
TTC- What top 5 releases are you looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to adding more pieces to my collection from all the wonderful artists that I already collect as well as expanding the number of wonderful artists that my collection represents. There are still so many artists out there that I want to support, it’s just going to take me time to get to all of them. I know you love how I kind of answer your questions and then trail off into a vague direction, that’s just how I roll and I like going down hills, so there’s no stopping me haha.
I would like to finish this off by giving all the wonderful people at The Toy Chronical a big thank you for putting a spotlight on my collection, as a collector there is nothing more that I want to do but to share all my awesome finds with everyone. Also, I want to give a big ole’ loving thank you to all the fantastically talented artists out there in the community. The joy that your creations bring to the world cannot be fully expressed through words but I do know for a fact that this place would ducking suck without you! – James Frazer
We hope you enjoyed the TTC collectors spotlight.
Thank you James for taking part in the interview and sharing your personal collection. We appreciate the time taken to answer all the questions and giving us a glimpse into your personal life and showcasing your forever growing collection.
Check out more of James’s collection via Facebook and Instagram.
Have you checked out the other TTC Collectors Spotlight?
